Half a World Away
by MurphysMuse
Summary: Shane and Wren were happy-engaged, expecting a new baby. That is, until the world ended while Wren was visiting her dying brother. Will they find each other again? If they do, can they ever get things back to the way they used to be?
1. Chapter 1

_Hi everyone! I've been on hiatus with another story for a LONG time, & I've had this idea for a Shane/OC story for a while (meeting Jon Bernthal gave me major Shane feels). I feel like Shane doesn't get much TWD fanfic love, so I'm gonna give him some! In this story Shane is not batshit crazy, & he & Lori did not have sex, although there was something up between them which will play out as the story goes along. I hope you enjoy! Oh, and there WILL be smut :)_

**Chapter 1**

****Trigger-warning: implications of rape & other sensitive topics in this chapter****

Pain. It was all Wren seemed to be able to think about. It felt like there had never been a time where she was not in agony, both physical and mental. As she sat propped against the back of the desk in the small-town pharmacy, she concentrated on breathing slowly, trying to wait for the pain to subside just a little bit. She knew she needed to look around, see if there were any medical supplies left that she could use to bandage the worst of her wounds & try to keep them from becoming infected. Tears slid down her face as she thought about it. What was the point? She was alone. Who was she staying alive for anyway? Herself? Did she even want to live in this world after all she'd lost? Her fiancee, her unborn baby—they'd been taken away from her so cruelly and she didn't know if she had the strength to keep fighting, keep trying.

Just as she was about to try to stand up and take a look around, she heard someone quietly push the door to the little pharmacy open. _Oh shit, they found me. I thought they were dead but they found me,_ she thought in a panic. Wren looked around to see if there was anything nearby that she could use as a weapon as light footsteps drew closer to where she was hiding. There was literally nothing that she could see, and the tears just came faster as she struggled not to make any noise. _Maybe they won't look back here. Maybe they won't see me. Please don't let them see me_, she prayed. Wren hadn't prayed in a long time, but as her Daddy used to say: there are no atheists in a foxhole. As she strained to listen, the footsteps stopped right on the other side of the counter. Wren continued to hold her breath.

She tried her best to slide carefully to the left, furthest away from the counter, hoping she could maybe crawl behind one of the shelves holding all those medications that no one would ever be coming in to pick up. It took every bit of her strength not to cry out as the lacerations covering her chest, abdomen, and thighs burned and stung. Just when she thought she was safe, and the footsteps had started moving away from her, she knocked over a pill bottle that had been lying on the floor by her foot. She held her breath, & sure enough the footsteps started back her way again. "Hello? Is there anyone back there?" she heard a female voice call out. Wren stayed as still as possible, worrying that it was a trick. "Hello? Are you hurt? Do you need help?" the voice called softly, closer this time. Wren closed her eyes, willing the person to turn around and leave.

"Oh my God. Are you okay Miss?" she heard. She opened her eyes and saw a pretty girl with short brown hair standing a few feet away. "Miss, do you need help?" she asked again, coming closer to where Wren was lying on the floor. "Please, don't hurt me," Wren whispered pitifully. "Were you bit?" the brown-haired girl asked, a look of apprehension on her face. "No, not bit. Attacked...by the living," Wren said. "Look, my dad has a medical background, & our farm isn't far from here. Why don't I take you back on my horse? He can look you over, make sure none of those cuts get infected. My name's Maggie by the way," Maggie said. The look in her eyes was so sincere, any doubts Wren had vanished. "I don't know if I can get onto your horse. I don't know if I can even walk out of here," Wren answered truthfully. Maggie crouched down, and put one arm behind Wren, slinging Wren's other arm around her shoulder to help pull her up. Once they were up, they made their way slowly to the front of the store, where she saw a beautiful horse tied to the post. "Lemme grab a box from the store for you to stand on. Maybe then we can get you up,"Maggie said after seeing the look of fear on Wren's face. After finding an old wooden crate, Maggie placed it on the porch and stood next to Wren. After helping her onto the crate, the hard part came. She half pulled, half pushed until Wren, who was yelping in pain, was finally on the horse. Maggie hopped up behind her so Wren could lean against her & not fall off. Maggie was anxious to get this stranger home, but she didn't want to gallop—she was afraid it'd hurt Wren too much—so she settled for a trot. "Hey. You okay? You never did tell me your name," said Maggie. "Wren. Wren...Walsh," she answered. "You got family around here Wren?" Maggie asked. "My...husband probably thinks I'm dead. I was in Virginia when things started to get bad. My brother—he had cancer for a long time, & things took a turn for the worse. They only gave him a week to live so I flew up to be with him. The last time I talked to my...my husband, I was stuck on the Interstate trying to get home. I had to rent a car because the airports shut down. A fight broke out between a couple of guys in the cars ahead of me. They both were carrying, and one pulled out his gun & started shooting. I was screaming, trying to get away...that was the last thing my husband heard. Me screaming and gunshots blasting. My phone died, & then the grids went down so I had no way to get a hold of him. My poor Shane...he thinks I'm dead...," she started sobbing. It was the first time she'd let herself even think Shane's name, much less say it out loud. The pain of knowing that he would think she was dead was overwhelming. "Hey, it's all right. He could be looking for you right now. You never know. See that light? That's our farm. My dad will be able to fix you up. We'll take care of you, okay? Please don't cry Wren. Please," Maggie begged. She had no idea how to handle this onslaught of emotions, and she was thankful when they were approaching the house.

"DAD!" Maggie yelled. "OTIS! I need some help!" Wren looked up to see an older man, probably in his 60's, and a heavy-set man with a goatee, come barreling through the screen door. "Maggie! Are you all right? What is going on?" the older man asked. "Dad, I was in at the pharmacy, and I found this poor girl laying on the floor in the back. She hasn't been bit, but she's hurt pretty bad," Maggie explained as quickly as possible. "Otis, help get this young woman to the spare room, quickly, and then tell Patricia I'll need her help," Maggie's dad said. The man with the goatee, who must be Otis, gently pulled Wren off the horse and carried her inside to a bedroom. A blonde woman, who was maybe 40ish, came in almost immediately. "My name's Patricia. I'll be helping Hershel to take care of you. Can I see your wounds?" she asked gently. Wren looked between her and Otis, not wanting to show anyone, least of all a man, the extent of the injuries she'd suffered. "Otis, why don't you go get Maggie? And tell Hershel to wait outside for a few minutes until she's comfortable," Patricia said softly. Once Maggie had entered the room, and shut the door firmly behind her, Wren began to sob again. "I'm so embarrassed...I don't know how to do this..." she babbled. Patricia & Maggie exchanged puzzled looks. "What happened to you Wren? How did you get hurt? Maybe if you tell us that, then you won't feel as worried about showing us," Maggie said in a soothing voice.

"I was walking on the Interstate, looking at the different vehicles for a place to sleep for the night. I felt this horrible pain in the back of my head & blacked out. When I woke up, I was in a tent. My hands were tied, and I...I...I had no pants on. There were these men, maybe 8 of 'em. They kept me in that tent for close to 2 weeks. They took turns...and there were a few of 'em who liked to use their knives..." she sobbed. Patricia and Maggie looked horrified. What can you even say to someone who's been through that kind of trauma? Maggie took Wren's hands, which were covering her face, and said, "Wren. You're here, and you're alive. I'm so so sorry that someone hurt you like that. We need to see the wounds so we can help them heal properly. It's just me & Patricia. She won't get my dad unless it looks really bad & she needs a second opinion, okay? Right now, it's just us." "Will you give me something for the pain? It just hurts so bad..." Wren said. "Of course we will. Now, do you want help getting your clothes off, or do you wanna do it yourself? I have clean PJ's here for you to change into, okay?" Maggie soothed. Wren nodded her head, and began to slowly remove her torn and stained shirt. Patricia & Maggie tried not to gasp when they saw how deep some of the cuts were. Then Wren removed her jeans, and they saw that the cuts extended down her thighs. Maggie wanted to ask Wren how she had managed to escape those men, but figured now was not the right time.

After what seemed like forever, her cuts had been thoroughly cleaned, some had been stitched, and they had all been bandaged. She had been given some pretty strong painkillers to help her rest along with her first dose of antibiotics. Before she fell asleep in the soft, clean pajamas laid out for her, she said to Maggie, "Thank you. I just wish your Dad could've saved my baby." Maggie looked at her in shock and Wren said with a sob, "I was pregnant when those men found me. I'm pretty sure I'm not pregnant anymore." "Wren, would you consent to my dad doing an internal exam, to make sure everything is all right?" "As long as I'm asleep, I don't care what he does," she said with a sigh. Maggie went out and gave Hershel a quick run-down of what had transpired. Hershel agreed to do an exam for Wren while she was sedated so as not to add to her trauma. Patricia went in with him to assist. Hershel came out, looked at Maggie, and said, "That poor girl. She'll have to be told in the morning that she is most certainly not pregnant anymore. However, there was no major internal damage. She'll still be able to have children in the future. It's a horrible world we're living in. People are so cruel. Did you say she has a husband?" "Wren said she did, but that he thinks she's dead. I hope she finds him someday." Maggie said. Meanwhile, in the small spare room, Wren slept peacefully for the first time in weeks, dreaming about the day she'd see Shane again.

_I hope everyone liked this first (very long) chapter! I was having a hard time with whether or not to break it into 2. Don't worry—we'll be seeing Shane very very soon!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

Wren woke up to the sun streaming in through the window across from the small bed. At first, she felt panic- _where am I?_ But as she looked around, the events from the day before came back to her. Looking to her right, she noticed Maggie smiling at her from a small wooden chair. "Good Morning! Did ya sleep all right?" she asked. Wren stretched and smiled back. "That was the best night's sleep I've had in the last month." Maggie showed Wren where some clean clothing had been laid out for her, and told her where the bathroom was. "Take your time getting dressed. When you're through, come downstairs—breakfast is ready. Otis went out hunting—maybe he'll get us a deer. We could have some deer steak!" Wren slowly got dressed—some of the cuts on her abdomen were still very sore. She took time to inventory all the bandages from her chest to her thighs, sighing. She was still feeling embarrassed about Maggie & Patricia seeing them, but she was relieved that they were bandaged well. Maggie had also left her a glass of water and several pills—some antibiotics and mild painkillers, she assumed. Swallowing them, she then put on the clean flannel shirt, buttoned it up, and headed downstairs to eat.

"Good Morning, Miss Wren. I trust you slept comfortably last night?" Hershel asked as she took a seat at the dining room table. The smell of eggs and bacon wafted up to Wren, and she realized just how hungry she was. "Yes, I did. Thank you so much...for everything," she replied as Patricia set a plate in front of her. "When you're all finished eating, we'll have a little chat, all right?" Hershel said. Wren nodded, trying not to swallow her food whole. Everything was absolutely delicious. She had been living on such a small amount of food—whatever she could scrounge up here and there- and the men who had taken her didn't feed her much more than a few spoonfuls of canned beans a day. When she was done (after helping herself to a second plate, at Patricia's urging), she found Hershel sitting on the porch. "Wren, as you know, I did an exam last night while you were sedated. From what I could see there is no permanent damage. While I'm certain you have lost your baby, there will be nothing to prevent you from having a child inn the future. Your wounds, thankfully, were not infected. I started you on a course of antibiotics just to be safe. You'll need to just take a sponge bath to wash up for the next week or so—those stitches on your chest and thigh shouldn't get wet until they come out. Do you have any questions for me?" Hershel asked. Wren sat quietly for a moment, absorbing everything Hershel had said. "No—I just can't thank you enough for all your help. I guess...well, I have 1 question. How long may I stay here?" she asked. Hershel looked at her thoughtfully for a minute and said, "Wren, you may definitely stay here until you're fully healed. We'll see after that. Fair enough?" Wren smiled at him and said, "Fair enough."

TWDTWDTWD

Two weeks had passed since Wren first came to the farm. Her physical wounds were healing nicely, but she was still plagued by nightmares. Every other night, Maggie would rush into the room when Wren started yelling in her sleep. She was embarrassed to have woken anyone up, and she was afraid Hershel wouldn't let her stay if it continued. After asking Hershel, he gave permission for Maggie to teach her some of the lighter farm chores—feeding the chickens, gathering the eggs, feeding the horses, and helping Patricia with meals. Wren had always loved to cook—it was something she was good at. She felt at ease chopping vegetables and making meals. Shane always joked that that was why he loved her—because she was a fantastic cook. She smiled sadly when she thought about Shane, wondering where he was. "Whatcha smilin' about?" asked Maggie as she walked into the kitchen. "My...Shane...he always teased me that the only reason he was with me was because I could cook better than any other girl he dated." Maggie smiled and said, "Well, when you're done prepping our gourmet dinner, you want a riding lesson?" Wren had expressed her love for horses, but had told Maggie she never had a chance to ride. Maggie said that once her dad had ok'd it, she'd teach her. "Really? Your dad said it's all right?" she asked. Maggie beamed and said, "Yup. Just as soon as you're ready, I'll take you out. Just meet me at the barn."

10 minutes later, Wren was at the barn, listening to Maggie teach her how to saddle the horse, and then leading him out to a mounting block so she could get on. Maggie started off by leading the horse while Wren got comfortable sitting on her—a pretty horse named Nelly. After a while Maggie asked, "Wanna trot down to the field and back?" "Do you think I'm ready?" Wren asked. "You look pretty good up there. If you wanna give it a try, I'll walk down and back with you," Maggie replied. Wren started down to the far field. She was enjoying the fresh air. After some help from Maggie, she got Nelly turned around to head back to the house. They were halfway back when Nelly reared up. "Whoa! Whoa!" Maggie said. Wren was terrified, not knowing why this seemingly gentle horse was rearing up. "Whoa! Nelly! Calm down!" Maggie tried again to get the horse to settle. The next thing she knew, Nelly had reared up again causing Wren to fly off the back of the horse. Once she was off, Nelly bolted. It was then that Maggie saw the snake—nothing poisonous, just a Ringneck. But that was enough to have spooked the horse. Wren groaned and tried to stand up, but she felt dizzy and nauseous. "Hold on, let me help you," said Maggie. She helped Wren get to her feet, and walked with an arm supporting her back to the house and into the spare room upstairs. Maggie went to get her father after she got Wren settled on the bed. After checking her eyes and limbs to make sure there were no broken bones, he sighed, "Well it looks like you're going to be staying in tonight. It doesn't appear that you have a concussion, but you certainly took a hard blow to your head in that fall. I'll give you something to help you sleep. Rest will be the best thing for you right now. I'll have Patricia come up later with your dinner and to check on you." After thanking Hershel and swallowing the pain pills, she looked at Maggie. "I am so so sorry Maggie-" she started. "What are you apologizing for. It wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have used Nelly—I forgot how skittish she can be sometimes. You just rest, & I'll be up in a bit." Maggie said, and then left Wren's room.

TWDTWDTWD

Not 2 hours later, Maggie was sitting on the porch when she saw what looked like someone running towards the house. She went inside and grabbed her binoculars. After looking through them, she saw a man carrying someone—a child maybe?-and rushing towards the house. Two men were running further behind, and one of them looked like Otis. "Dad!" Maggie shouted. Hershel, Patricia, and Maggie's younger sister Beth came running out, just as the first man was approaching the porch. They could see now that he was carrying a child and was covered in blood. "Are you Hershel?" the man gasped. "Was he bit?" Hershel asked. "No he was shot—by your man," the crying man replied. "Otis?" Patricia said. Hershel had him bring the boy into the house and laid him on the downstairs spare room bed. He quickly examined him, noting that the boy was still alive. Otis and another man had entered the house at this point. While Patricia went to her husband to find out what happened, the new stranger comforted the first man. They learned that the first man was named Rick, and his son—Carl—had been shot by Otis while Otis was tracking a buck. The second man was comforting the first after Hershel, with much difficulty, had removed 1 bullet fragment from the thrashing boy in the bed. Hershel told the men that the only chance to save the boy was to remove the other fragments—but that Carl would need to be sedated. He explained that he didn't have the equipment for that. Otis suddenly looked up and said, "The high school!" Hershel nodded, and at Rick's questioning look, Hershel explained that a FEMA shelter had been set up there and they would likely have all the things necessary for the surgery. Rick's friend—they learned that his name was Shane- volunteered to go alone. But Otis said he'd go along—he knew what the supplies looked like and how to get there. They men hopped into Otis' old blue truck and left.

"Patricia, why don't you go check on Wren? Make sure she's okay?" Hershel asked. Maggie had already left on horseback to find Rick's wife, Lori, and bring her back to the farm. But before Patricia could even turn around, Wren said, "I'm right here. I heard a commotion and I was worried... are you all all right?" Rick, who had been sitting with his head in his hands, looked up at her voice in shock. "Wren? Wren is that really you?" Wren looked over and saw Rick for the first time. "Oh my God! Rick Grimes! What are you doing here? Is Shane with you?" she exclaimed as she made her way over to him. The two friends embraced, both crying. "Rick, what's wrong?" "It's Carl...he was shot. Shane went with Otis to get supplies-" "Shane was here? Shane is alive?" Wren cried. "Yes, he's alive. He's fine. But he told me you were dead. Said he heard gunshots and you were screaming and then the phone died. When he didn't hear back from you, he thought..." Rick said. "I can't believe this. Where's Carl?" Rick led Wren into the spare room where Carl was sleeping. He looked so pale. Wren looked at Rick and said, "Oh Rick. I'm so sorry. Will he be ok? Will Hershel be able to..." "He needs to do surgery. He has to put Carl under, but didn't have the equipment. Shane and Otis went to get it. Maggie went to find Lori..." he trailed off, tears in his eyes. "Maggie will bring Lori back. Don't you worry," Wren said. At that moment, Hershel poked his head in the door and said, "Wren, you really should get back upstairs and rest. We'll come get you when your husband comes back, all right?" Rick looked stunned when Hershel said "husband" but Wren smiled weakly and said, "All right. Rick, if you need me, you let me know. I'm just upstairs." And with that, she went to lie down. But how could she sleep? Shane was alive. Shane was coming back here. She was finally going to see him again!


End file.
